West Ham fans chanted 'Green for England' after goalkeeper Robert Green dramatically kept out Benjani Mwaruwari's Portsmouth penalty deep in stoppage time at Fratton Park.
Danny Gabbidon was ruled to have handled just inside the area by referee Mike Dean.
And, after Pompey players appeared to argue over who should take the spot-kick, Green rendered all debate irrelevant with a save from the Zimbabwe international.
Pompey missed the opportunity to climb into the top four with a win but it could have been a lot worse.
Nolberto Solano, West Ham's hero last week when he launched victory from the bench, ruined two gilt-edged chances to score with the goal gaping in front of him.
Meanwhile, Green made super saves from Niko Kranjcar (twice) and Benjani - the league's top scorer with five in his last three games.
Kanu came on near the end to fire just wide but Pompey were again undone by a penalty miss. The Nigerian wasted a similar chance in the goalless draw with Liverpool earlier this season.
West Ham tried to combat Pompey's successful 4-3-3 line-up with five men in midfield and Carlton Cole a lone striker but the home side were soon calling the tune.
A clever move started by Papa Bouba Diop saw John Utaka slip inside and released full back Glen Johnson down the right. Danny Gabbidon did well to head the cross away for a corner.
And, when Niko Kranjcar, just wide in the opening minute, took aim again from well outside the box seven minutes later, Green had to make an acrobatic leap to turn the ball over the bar.
Hammers struggled to clear the corner and Pedro Mendes latched on to a loose ball to shoot just wide.
Portsmouth's early pressure was relentless and Gabbidon was lucky not to turn a stabbed shot from Benjani into his own net.
West Ham gained some relief with a corner of their own and then Boa Morte, preferred in the starting line-up to Matt Etherington after making two goals as a substitute in the win over Sunderland last week, went down in the area after a challenge by Sylvain Distin.
All Boa Morte's protests failed to move referee Mike Dean but the official took action to calm a silly feud between the abrasive Bellamy and Pompey's Hermann Hreidarsson.
Their pushing match at a corner was just one of a series of clashes and Dean booked them both. Bellamy looked to have flicked a boot at Hreidarsson.
The Wales captain failed to appear for the second half and was replaced by Etherington.
West Ham needed some more good defending when skipper Lucas Neill turned Utaka's dangerous cross for a corner but it was Benjani's energy which was giving the visitors most problems.
The Zimbabwean chased every ball, closed defenders down when they tried to clear and then had another shot on the turn which, admittedly, caused Green only minimal problems.
Mark Noble clipped his shot over the bar as West Ham finally raised another threat in the 21st minute and three minutes later they should have taken a surprise lead when Cole's second attempt to cross from the left found Solano sneaking in behind Pompey's defence.
But the Peruvian failed to make contact in front of a gaping goal.
It needed a last-gasp tackle by George McCartney to deny Benjani a clear chance to give Pompey a half-time lead they might just have deserved.
Green, a popular England candidate now, did himself no harm in that respect with impressive saves from a Kranjcar free-kick and a Benjani blast early in the second half.
And perhaps his reliability inspired West Ham to better efforts.
Instead of losing an edge with Bellamy's removal, they began to out-pass Pompey.
But the hapless Solano bungled another opportunity to grab the lead for improving Hammers in the 65th minute.
Etherington and McCartney cleverly set up Cole for a blast which came back off the junction of near-post and bar, leaving Solano again with an empty goal.
But his attempt at a flying header was a travesty and he succeeded in only heading, almost comically, into the turf.
Just to rub it in, he was booked within two minutes for a foul on Distin and then replaced 12 minutes from the end by defender Jon Spector.
But in the end it call came down to Benjani versus Green and the West Ham keeper has surely now done enough to earn that England call - even at the expense of opposite number David James.
